Panache and Style

Janácek's 'TheCunning Little Vixen' -
reviewed byROBERT ANDERSON

'... much bewitching music ...'

I have every sympathy with Janáček in his old age. On my desk is a very small koala bear to aid inspiration, and most mornings I give affectionate greetings to dogs on their way to Kensington Gardens, smiling indulgently when they relieve themselves either side of my porch. Most of the human beings in this opera are frankly loathsome, from the pair of wretched boys who poke the captured vixen with their sticks to the bibulous gamekeeper, schoolmaster, and parson propping up their seedy bar in the forest.

Though I still ruefully remember the onslaught of midges by the cloud during Shetland summers, there is nothing but enchantment in an initial operaticballet of flies, mosquitoes, crickets, and dragonflies...